Foreign Minister Alexander Downer confirmed that Australia has
rejectedZimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe's requests to bring in a crack squad
ofarmed commandos to defend him against protesters.

There has been
international outrage over Mr Mugabe's so-called terrorcampaign towards
white farmers and black political opponents.

Mr Downer also said
Australia had no right as Commonwealth Heads ofGovernment Meeting host to
deny Mugabe a visa for the summit, which beginsin the Queensland capital on
October 6.

"As the hosts of the meeting we are required to allow all
those activemembers of the Commonwealth to attend the meeting," Downer
said.

But he said allowing the dictator in could be the best
outcome.

Commonwealth ministers have left Brisbane with a potential
diplomaticnightmare after delaying any action against Robert Mugabe's
Zimbabwe regimeuntil the eve of next month's CHOGM
summit.

Expulsion Meeting.

Mr Downer and his colleagues in the
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group(CMAG) today decided to await the
outcome of an emergency meeting inneighbouring Nigeria this week before
recommending whether the Africannation should be suspended or expelled from
the Commonwealth.

"It is also in my view better to confront President
Mugabe face-to-face inBrisbane on these issues than just to have a
long-distance exchange ofabuse," he said.

"If President Mugabe does
come to Brisbane and I have no idea whether hewill or he won't he will have
an opportunity to put his own case.

"He will have to answer questions
raised of him by many heads of government,by many delegations, which are
concerned about what is happening inZimbabwe.

""And it is better to
have him there and talk to him about it than to takethe position that we'll
just not allow him to come to Australia."
From the ABC (Australia)

The head of Zimbabwe's second biggest private bank has
criticised the economic policies of President Robert Mugabe.

Paddy Zhanda, chairman of National Merchant (NMB), told shareholders that
hyperinflation, a lack of foreign currency, and a thriving black market are
causing acute problems.

Julius Markoni, NMB managing director, told the BBC's World Business Report
that Zimbabwe needs a better co-ordinated land reform programme and incentives
for foreign investment and exporters.

"In order to reverse this trend there must be changes in the political field
and economic measures", he said.

Zimbabwe's economic woes

Unemployment has soared to over 50%

Inflation is currently running at 70%

The economy is expected to shrink by 10% in
2001

Asked if
he was worried about speaking out so openly against President Mugabe's financial
policies, Mr Markoni said: "We're not having a go at the government as such.
We're just stating day-to-day facts which affect how people can afford to live,
or not to live, in Zimbabwe.

Economic crunch

Nearly 700 companies are reported to have closed down in Zimbabwe in the last
18 months due in part to chronic shortages of fuel and foreign exchange.

President Mugabe has said he will scrutinise the reasons behind the closures
to determine if they were prompted by a desire to destroy the economy.

Mugabe blamed

Critics of the regime have blamed the crisis on government mismanagement.

The president, however, has accused local whites and Western governments
opposed to his land reform programme of sabotaging the country's financial
well-being.

The president has faced widespread international criticism for his
government's plans to seize white-owned land for resettlement by black farmers.

Western donor countries and lending agencies critical of land seizures have
suspended foreign aid.

Local currency tumbles

Zimbabwe's vital export sectors have also suffered heavily since the local
dollar devalued by almost a third and officially pegged at 55 to the US dollar.

On the black market, however, the local dollar trades at around 350 to the US
dollar.

The prices of many key products have also been fixed, creating an illusion of
success.

However, NMB's Julius Markoni said inflation is hurting the poor more than
the middle classes.

With little else on which to spend their money, wealthy Zimbabwean have been
buying shares, resulting in a surge in the stock market of some 120% this year.

Profits for NMB rose by 102% to nearly one billion Zimbabwe dollars ($18,000)
in the last year.

Zimbabwe's neighbours are keeping a wary eye on events, fearing that the
crisis could undermine economic growth across the whole region.

Commonwealth
foreign ministers have sought to keep up the pressure onZimbabwe over
violence directed against white farmers.

Concluding a two-day meeting,
the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Groupissued a statement in which they
voiced continuing concerns over thesituation.

The ministers will
review the situation at their next scheduled meeting onOctober 5 immediately
before the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting inBrisbane,
Australia.

The statement said: "They deeply regretted that the government
of Zimbabwehad not agreed to receive three CMAG ministers as proposed at
their lastmeeting."

The group expressed support for the meeting of
Commonwealth ministers whichwill discuss Zimbabwe in Abuja, Nigeria, later
this week.

The statement said: "They (the ministers) hoped that the Abuja
meeting wouldmake progress towards reaching a solution which would benefit
all the peopleof Zimbabwe."

Addressing a press conference at the
conclusion of the Marlborough Housemeeting, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was
reluctant to spell out what linehe will take at the Abuja meeting, or to
discuss what possible measurescould be taken against Zimbabwe if the
situation continued to deteriorate.

Mr Straw said there was no argument
about the need for land reform inZimbabwe.

But he added: "That has to
take place within the context of the law - youcannot divorce land from the
law."

However the foreign minister of Australia, Alexander Downer, told
the pressconference that there was huge concern in his country about the
situation inZimbabwe.

Mr Downer said: "My view is that the problems
in Zimbabwe simply cannot beignored by the Commonwealth. The harassment and
acts of violence are amatter of enormous concern in our
country."

Robert Mugabe, left, and Muammar al-Gaddafi
with Omar al-Bashir, right, president of
Sudan.

Gaddafi, Mugabe make an African
alliance

Tim Cornwell Deputy Foreign
Editor

A STRANGE story is making the rounds in
Zimbabwe’s white community.

About six weeks ago, when Colonel Muammar
al-Gaddafi drove from the Zambian border to Harare in a sweeping convoy escorted
by helicopter gunships, it is said, he paused on route to join the hand-over of
a white-owned farm to Zimbabwe’s "war veterans".

The details are hazy in
the swirl of cross-country e-mails and faxes that substitute for news. But the
story itself is testament to the close ties between Col Gaddafi and Zimbabwe’s
president, Robert Mugabe.

In the two years since he handed the Lockerbie
defendants over for trial, the Libyan leader has busily set about bringing his
country back into the mainstream. But he still finds common cause with one of
the western world’s most unpopular men.

It is a friendship based on one
man’s quest for African unity and the other’s urgent need for dollars and oil.

A meeting of minds? A marriage of convenience? "Pariahs attract,"
suggests Patrick Smith, editor of the newsletter Africa Confidential.

"But in these days, oddly enough, Libya is less of a pariah to Britain
than Zimbabwe is."

Col Gaddafi has renounced terrorism and sent moderate
signals on the Middle East. The United States still treats him with deep
suspicion, but Britain and the EU are eager to do business.

Mr Mugabe,
by contrast, stands condemned by many for his autocratic rule, his ruinous
handling of Zimbabwe’s economy and the showdown with his country’s white
farmers. This week, Mr Mugabe was in Tripoli, the best-known of several African
leaders helping celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the quiet coup that brought
Col Gaddafi to power.

Visitors were treated to street banquets and a two
and a half hour speech in which the 59-year-old Libyan railed against the US,
saying its democratic system should be "thrown in the garbage" and accusing it
of developing the AIDS virus.

Amid the speeches and streamers, however,
the two countries signed a deal for Libya to supply Zimbabwe with £60 million
worth of petrol to ease a severe fuel shortage. Long lines at petrol stations as
Zimbabwe fails to find cash for foreign oil have come to symbolise its crumbling
economy.

Last month, Zimbabwe said Libya had promised to provide more
than £200 million worth of fuel over a year. Two years ago, it offered a first
£60 million line of credit.

About six weeks ago, Col Gaddafi was in
Zimbabwe. He drove across the border with Zambia in a convoy of 80 vehicles,
escorted by Zimbabwean helicopters, armoured cars, and motorcycle outriders, and
made a "triumphal entry" into Harare.

Mr Mugabe once drove into Libya
from Egypt in an official motorcade. Zimbabwe back then showed solidarity with a
country under UN sanctions. Now it’s Zimbabwe’s turn to see western aid and
financing cut.

Col Gaddafi stopped in the provincial farming town of
Chinhoyi. He told a rally that "Zimbabwe should be for Zimbabweans. Africa for
Africans. This is our sacred land... We died for it and the whites have no place
in Africa."

Zimbabwe’s white community blames that incendiary language
for fuelling the violence aimed at them in recent weeks. "A lot of people feel
there was a link with Gaddafi going and making his comments and inciting people
to kick them out," said one woman from an old-established Harare family.

A certain amount of mystery - and a good deal of speculation - hangs
over the relationship. Officials have neither denied, nor confirmed the details.

Col Gaddafi is avidly pursuing a new "African Union", bankrolling
African meetings, and wants Zimbabwe on board. Libya’s role in Zimbabwe, which
has up to ten thousand troops in war-torn Congo, could give it added regional
clout.

"Libya is trying to get street credibility in Africa by being a
mediator in African conflicts," said Mr Smith.

According to reports in
the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, Libya has quietly funnelled about £600,000
to Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party for his struggling re-election bid. The help has
included 20 Cherokee Jeep four-wheel drive vehicles for key party functionaries.

Libya, meanwhile, is reported to have paid a generous sum for a mansion
built by Mr Mugabe’s much younger second wife Grace. "Gracelands", as it is
known, is slated to be the new residence of the Libyan ambassador.

- recalling its previous Resolutions on the situation in
Zimbabwe on 13 April 2000, on 18 May 2000, on 6 July 2000, and on 15 March
2001

- recalling the Resolution of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary
Assembly adopted in Libreville, Gabon, on 22 March 2001

A. whereas Zimbabwe is sliding into chaos with a dramatic
deterioration in law and order in recent weeks as a direct result of actions
inspired by President Mugabe, entrenching a climate of fear and despair which
impacts on all elements of the population;

B. whereas attacks on freedom of the press have continued,
with oppression of both foreign and local journalists, including the arrest on
15 August of four journalists from the Daily News, the sole remaining
independent newspaper in Zimbabwe;

C. whereas members of the opposition MDC are routinely
subject to harassment, violent intimidation, and arbitrary imprisonment and go
in fear of their lives: MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai is currently facing
trumped-up charges; most recently MDC MP Willias Madzimure has been attacked and
his home looted; and Douglas Chapoterara, MDC vice-chairman in Makoni West,
narrowly escaped death after attack on his home by a mob of ZANU-PF
militants;

D. whereas vicious attacks on farmers and farm workers have
continued, with the murder of Ralph Corbet near Kwekwe, the mob burning of homes
and brutal intimidation of farm workers, and the arrest of over 21 farmers from
the Chinhoyi area and their detention for over two weeks prior to release on
bail on excessively harsh conditions;

E. whereas the economy is near collapse with galloping
inflation, crippling unemployment, dramatic decline in foreign investment, and
catastrophic shortfalls in maize, the staple crop, with the prospect of
starvation levels in certain areas by November;

F. whereas mere expressions of international dismay have had
little effect on the Mugabe regime and President Mugabe has shown contempt even
for the imploring of other African leaders;

G. whereas the EU has so far failed to introduce procedures
according to Article 96 of the Cotonou accord;

H. whereas most EU Member States have substantially cut or
suspended their financial support and development aid to Zimbabwe, but France
has significantly increased its engagement;

I. whereas democratic political leaders in Zimbabwe have
called for travel restrictions to be imposed on President Mugabe and his close
associates and for their overseas assets to be identified;

J. whereas the administrative structures for handling the
Presidential election in Spring 2002 are likely to be established soon and may
have an impact on the respective chances of presidential candidates;

1. Applauds the continued courage and resilience of those
politicians and other citizens in Zimbabwe who have continued to stand up for
democratic values and human rights in spite of the most dreadful
intimidation;

2. Welcomes efforts by the SADC task force, comprising South
Africa, Mozambique, and Botswana along with the SADC Troika of Malawi, Namibia
and Angola, to encourage moderation and a return to democratic norms by the
government of President Mugabe;

3. Trusts that the group of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers
meeting in Abuja on 6 September 2001, will insist that President Mugabe take
immediate action to restore international confidence in the situation in
Zimbabwe, with particular attention to human rights, law and order, economic
stability, and a clean electoral process;

4. Recognises that fine words are unlikely to persuade
President Mugabe to mend his ways and that visible and tangible action now needs
to be taken which will focus directly on the interests of President Mugabe and
his circle while sparing the people of Zimbabwe;

5. Congratulates the actions of the Governments of Denmark
and Norway in suspending inter-governmental aid programmes;

6. Calls on the European Commission to review its food aid
programme to Zimbabwe, in particular the methods of distributing this assistance
to those most in need, to ensure by all means possible that provisions are not
misdirected by ZANU-PF activists for their own gain and for electioneering
purposes;

7. Reiterates its call to the European Commission and Member
States of the EU to suspend all development co-operation assistance which is
currently being managed through the Zimbabwean Government and its agencies,
until such time as democracy and the rule of law have been fully restored;

8. Calls on the French Government to adhere to the line
taken by other EU Member States in reducing or suspending its financial
engagement in Zimbabwe;

9. Urges the Council and Commission to invoke measures
against Zimbabwe as a "case of special urgency" under Article 96 of the Cotonou
Agreement ahead of the meeting of ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in
Brussels on 29 October 2001;

10. Calls on the Council of the European Union, at its
informal meeting of foreign ministers at Genval on 8 and 9 September, to prepare
concrete steps that might be taken by EU states to bring pressure to bear on
President Mugabe and to take joint action accordingly at the next General
Affairs Council on 8 October;

11. Insists, in particular, that the European Council take
the necessary measures to identify and freeze the assets held in European
countries and countries closely associated, by President Mugabe, his family, and
named close associates;

12. Insists similarly that a travel ban be introduced to bar
entry to EU countries and countries closely associated, by President Mugabe, his
family, and named close associates;

13. Calls on the European Commission to start preparation of
a comprehensive election-monitoring mission, including support for domestic
monitors and training of observers;

14. Calls on the Commonwealth Heads of Government, at their
meeting in Brisbane 6-9 October, to take the necessary steps to suspend Zimbabwe
from the Commonwealth until such time as the rule of law is restored, with
proper protection of the human rights of all citizens;

15. Calls on the European Investment Bank and the World Bank
to review their lending to the Government of Zimbabwe and to consider suspension
of loans;

16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to
the Commission, the Council, EU Member States and Applicant States, the
Government and Parliament of Zimbabwe, the Secretary General of the United
Nations, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the Secretary-General of SADC,
the Secretary-General of the AU, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, the
President of the World Bank and the Chairman of the European Investment
Bank.

JOHANNESBURG, 4
September (IRIN) - South African Jewish groups brandedZimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe a racist on Monday after he accusedthem of trying to wrest
control of Zimbabwe’s industries, Reutersreported. “Jews in South Africa,
working in cahoots with their colleagueshere, want our textile and clothing
factories ... to close down,” Mugabesaid in comments reported in Zimbabwe on
the state-controlled ‘Herald’newspaper’s Web site. Mugabe was reported to
have said during a visit onFriday to a textile factory in the southern city
of Bulawayo that SouthAfrican Jews saw Zimbabwe simply as a “warehouse” that
could createbusiness for their companies.

Jewish groups called the
remarks racist and anti-Semitic, saying thatJewish business operators in
Zimbabwe were doing their best to survive inincreasingly difficult
circumstances. “It’s just way out of line. Whysingle out such a small
group?” said African Jewish Congress PresidentMervyn Smith. “This is a
blatant example of racism and anti-Semitism, notto mention sheer malevolent
conspiracy theorising,” he told Reuters. Smithsaid there were around 100,000
Jews in South Africa and probably no morethan 1,000 in Zimbabwe.

The
national chairman of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies,Russell
Gaddin, said Jewish businesses in Zimbabwe were battling to keeptheir
operations afloat in the growing political and economic crisis. “Ithink
Mugabe is a man who knows he’s got his back against the wall andthat by
using whites, or Jews as synonyms of whites, he thinks he’llgarner more
support,” Gaddin said. “But I’m not sure who in the worldtakes President
Mugabe seriously any more,” he added.

JOHANNESBURG, 4 September (IRIN) - The
prices of bread and soft drinks inZimbabwe rose by between 20 and 50 percent
on Monday, the state-run‘Herald’ newspaper reported on Tuesday. Bread now
costs over 50 Zimbabweandollars (about US $0.9 at the official exchange
rate) a loaf. The hike wasthe seventh bread price increase this
year.

The National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe blamed the increase on
thehigh cost of imported wheat for flour. The country is experiencing
ashortage of local wheat which forced millers to import. The situation
hasbeen aggravated by the shortage of foreign currency for which the
millershave to pay a premium at the parallel market.

Prices of other
basic commodities are expected to rise as well, the reportsaid. The
Zimbabwean dollar has lost value to major currencies and is nowtrading at
300 Zimbabwean dollars to one US dollar on the parallel market,compared to
the official rate of 55 Zimbabwean dollars to the greenback.

JOHANNESBURG, 4 September (IRIN) -
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabeadmitted for the first time on Friday that
his government’s policies hadfailed to arrest the country’s economic
decline. Speaking at the openingof a coin minting plant in Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe’s second city, Mugabe blamed“domestic and external imbalances” for
an unprecedented currencydepreciation and economic meltdown, African Eye
News reported on Monday.

The 78-year-old president, whose grip on power
has been tested by anincreasingly outspoken opposition, insisted the
economic problems were notunique to Zimbabwe. “Our problems have manifested
themselves in the formof high inflation and exchange rate instability,
thereby seriouslyundermining the purchasing power of our country’s notes and
coins,” Mugabesaid. “The balance of payments also continue to be under
pressure, againstthe background of a widening current account deficit and
declining capitalinflows.”

Economists reportedly blame the unfolding
economic crisis on Mugabe’sunyielding support for the seizure of vast areas
of white-owned commercialfarms by self-styled war veterans. The invasions
and related violence havescared both prospective investors and foreign
donors off. Mugabe expressedoptimism for economic recovery and suggested
that the Millennium EconomicRecovery Plan (MERP) adopted at the recent
African Union summit provided ablueprint for a Zimbabwean revival. However,
some Zimbabwean economistshave dismissed Mugabe’s enthusiasm, saying MERP
and other economicpolicies were unlikely to succeed without radical steps to
stabilise theagricultural sector and either halt or reverse farm invasions
by warveterans.

About 50 commercial farms in the area were looted during the
invasions.Mushipe granted bail with accompanying conditions similar to those
grantedto Whittaker’s colleagues by High Court judge, Justice Rita Makarau.
Thebail conditions included payment of $100 000, a surety of a further $100
000and the surrender of his passport to the police.The farmer’s lawyers
Lawrence Chibwe and Rumbidzai Jakanani of Stumbles andRowe applied for bail
on Friday, but the magistrate postponed the case untilMonday, forcing
Whittaker to spend the weekend in jail. Chibwe on Mondaysuccessfully argued
that his client would not abscond trial given properterms and conditions for
granting bail. Herald Matura, the publicprosecutor, had said that Whittaker,
who was on the run until his arrest onFriday, would abscond. Jenni Williams,
of the Commercial Farmers’ Union,said Whittaker, of Bandira Farm in the
Makonde district, was arrested atChinhoyi police station when he responded
to a request by police to reportto them. Whittaker is the 22nd farmer
arrested over allegations ofinvolvement in the clash with farm invaders when
a group of farmers went tothe aid of Anthony Barkley, a colleague trapped in
his house atListonshields Farm by a mob on 6 August.The State is
alleging that Whittaker and his colleagues were called byBarkley to his farm
where they attacked settlers with sticks, logs andchains, seriously injuring
five of them. The other 21 farmers were arrestedimmediately and held in jail
for 16 days, before they were let out on bail.None of the occupiers was
arrested. Makarau eventually granted the farmersbail on 21 August. Jeremy
Callow of Stumbles and Rowe representing the other21 farmers has applied to
have charges against his clients dropped, sayingthey might not get a fair
trial because their case had been politicised.

A CRIME
time bomb is ticking in South Africa’s border town of Messinafollowing a
ruling by the country’s Department of Home Affairs that at least16 000
Zimbabwean farm workers, with valid work permits, be sent back hometo allow
locals to get the jobs, it emerged yesterday.

The South African police,
the South African National Defence Force (SANDF),organised agriculture and
the business community in the town say farmattacks and other crimes in the
Soutpansberg in the Northern Province couldincrease if the Zimbabwean farm
workers currently living in the area arerepatriated.The Home Affairs
Department has ruled that the farm workers must be sentback to their country
of origin by 15 October, to make way for unemployedSouth Africans.The
labourers were initially supposed to be out of the country by 15 April,but
the deadline was later moved to 15 October.But the chief immigration
official at Home Affairs, Des Venter, said hisdepartment was waiting for
Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi toconfirm the target
date.However, he admitted that the current problems in Zimbabwe may affect
thedecision.Colonel Tol Snyman, commander of the Soutpansberg Military
Area, has warnedthat repatriating the workers will put 16 000 potential
criminals onto thestreets.He said: “Until such time as something is done
about Zimbabwe’s economicsituation, it is useless to repatriate these
people.”Snyman said that in reality the ruling means that the workers will
return toSouth Africa to find work illegally elsewhere.He also pointed
out that 14 402 illegal immigrants were arrested by theSANDF between January
and August this year, as opposed to 26 740 last yearand only 7 092 in
1999.Snyman said the fact that the workers are familiar with the farms and
themovement of their inhabitants, meant that it would be easy for
theseunemployed and potentially starving Zimbabweans to steal or kill
there,rather than to work for food and money elsewhere.Dries Joubert,
president of the Soutpansberg Agricultural Union, sharesSnyman’s concerns.
He argues that the displaced “will definitely not findemployment in their
homeland because of the precarious economic situation inthat country. They
will probably move to Gauteng.”Captain Eddie Enslin, station commander in
Messina, says crime has alreadyincreased in the area as a result of the
situation in Zimbabwe. DomineeChristo Swanepoel, chairman of the Messina
Chamber of Commerce, said thegovernment’s plan is “a bit rash”. He said the
South African government’sdesire to return all “alien labourers” to Zimbabwe
will create a “crime timebomb”, with thousands of hungry people on the other
side of the border.He said: “We all know for a fact that one-fifth of the
Venda populationlives in southern Zimbabwe. They often move across the
border to visitfamily on both sides. This situation makes it difficult to
patrol the bordereffectively.”There are concerns among the farmers and
business community in Messina thatthere are wrong impressions that there are
thousands of local workers readyand willing to take up the vacant positions
on the farms.One top farmer claims that people staying in Venda did not want
to work onthe farms. He said Zimbabweans working for farmers who are members
of theAgricultural Union, have permits and there is “excellent control under
theold system”.The farmer, who asked not to be named, said the farmers
employed theZimbabwean workers because there was “no other labour source in
the area”.Joubert denied claims that farmers paid Zimbabweans less than
their SouthAfrican counterparts. He said he invited those making the
allegations toprovide evidence so that the union could act against such
members.“The rules of the union demand that farmers have the necessary
permits,identity documents and photos of their Zimbabwean workers on file,”
he said.

EUROPEAN
Union (EU) parliamentarians debating the crisis in Zimbabwe onMonday called
on member-countries to freeze President Mugabe’s assets inEurope to force
him to observe the rule of war.

The MPs met in Strasbourg, France. The
232 MPs, members of the EuropeanPeople’s Party and European Democrats
(EPP-ED) drawn from 15 Europeancountries, called for sanctions against
Mugabe and his close lieutenants toforce him to observe the rule of law.
Pressing for “visible and tangible”action against Mugabe, the EU MPs
said:“We insist, in particular, that the European Council take the
necessarymeasures to identify and freeze the assets held in European
countries andcountries closely associated, by President Mugabe, his family
and namedclose associates

On the first day of the conference against
racism in Durban, he announcedZimbabweans were the victims of a sinister
international plot by Jewishfinanciers, and that "if whites leave, it is a
good thing".

The world really cannot doubt any longer that ethnic
cleansing is theobjective of the man who said in 1987: "A mabhunu (offensive
term for awhite person) is always a mabhunu and the more you kill, the
nearer you getto your objective".

Back in 1976 there was an
embarrassed aversion of mind and gaze when hisofficial spokesman imprudently
told the British Guardian newspaper:"Morality has nothing to do with it. The
whites must be led up the gardenpath to the place of slaughter."

If
his intended victims were only the remaining 40000 to 50000 whites here,it
would not be so bad: we are an adaptable lot, equipped withinternationally
saleable skills. However, he clearly means to "reorientate"anything up to
seven million people who he believes have been infected withthe "white" evil
of failing to appreciate the blessings of his 21-yearreign.

Our black
friends compare us, rightly, to the canaries old-fashioned minersused to
carry to give early warning of fire damp and other dangers.

It is indeed
racist that our troubles should get so much attention.

However, if we go,
the world may wake up one morning and find Pol Pot-stylegenocide -- of which
we will not be the victims -- is too late to stop.

Speaking in the
opposition stronghold of Bulawayo last Friday, Mugabe notonly denounced Jews
and whites but raged at fellow black Zimbabweans: "Tothose of you who
support whites, we say 'down with you'."

Mugabe spoke of the collapse of
Bulawayo's once-profitable Merspin (Merlin)textile company, now under
judicial management after years of battlingagainst soaring input costs,
denial of foreign exchange for essentials, 70percent interest charges, and
loss of export markets due to sheerbureaucratic indifference in
Harare.

Encouraged by local Zanu (PF) governor Obert Mpofu, a workers'
committee hasannounced it will keep the company going at any
cost.

Said Mugabe: "Jews in South Africa, working in cahoots with their
colleagueshere, want our textile and clothing factories, especially Merlin,
to closedown. They want Zimbabwe, and Bulawayo, to remain with warehouses to
createbusiness for South African firms.

"My colleague President
Chiluba said (Kenneth) Kaunda had failed to rulebecause he did not want to
sell parastatals. Chiluba took over andprivatised. South African companies
bought all the clothing and textilecompanies created by Kaunda. They later
closed them down to create marketsfor South Africans.

"Many workers
lost their jobs. Chiluba has realised his mistakes, but thereare only five
parastatals left now.

"When I heard the (Merlin) workers had decided to
continue operations, Isaid yes, that is our policy of empowering workers to
be employers and notslaves of others.

"We want you to be inspectors,
listen to all factory rumours, open your eyesand tell us which companies are
closing. Tell us in good time.

"Yes, there are hardships but if they
(whites) leave, it is a good thingbecause we will take over the
companies."

Mugabe's version of what happened in Zambia is an utter
travesty, and themain lesson Chiluba's supporters seem to be learning is
that the Mandela erais over in the region, and the Mugabe era has arrived
when you can get awaywith the most crude and blatant thuggery if you want to
stay in power.

However, on the economic front, the most informed
commentators say that manyof Zambia's manufacturing industries, set up with
state subsidies andforeign aid during Kaunda's 27- year rule, were simply
not viable.

Kaunda was not responsible for Zambia being a land-locked
country, but hewas certainly to blame for its tiny (and contracting)
internal market andchronic lack of skills, the two other major reasons for
unviability.

Contrary to Mugabe's spurious assertions, one of the Zambian
textilecompanies taken over by a South African firm is doing quite well,
while theformerly stricken Zambia Breweries has made excellent progress
since controlpassed from Lusaka politicians to experts from
Johannesburg.

Most importantly, the copper industry, destroyed by
Kaunda's nationalisationin 1970, is being put back on its feet by South
Africans and should revivedemand and purchasing power throughout the Zambian
economy.

What Chiluba lost was power of patronage.

"Mugabenomics"
require artificial tariffs and controls, forcing the alreadypenurious local
consumer to buy at an artificially high price, or payment ofsubsidies
extorted from taxpayers who, in Zimbabwe's case, are adisappearing
species.

Mugabe may not know this, because he has made himself formally
exempt frompaying any form of tax or excise duty. Many of his henchmen have
never hadto make a return since 1980 because their perquisites are tax-free
and theyare able to exert political influence to screen the rest of their
income.

In 1992, Mugabe roused protests from the World Jewish Council and
the JewishDefence League when he called white farmers "hard-hearted Jews".
The localJewish Board of Deputies tried to dismiss this outburst as
something "blownup by the press".

Mugabe refused to
apologise.

It has been my lot to meet only three unapologetic German
nazis -- three toomany, readers may say, but the encounters were enormously
educative.

They were nothing like their caricatures in war movies but
amazingly suaveand cultured in the way they defended their beliefs. They
gave way to noneof the furious emotionalism one meets from Catholic or
Protestant Irishmen.

They denied not only the holocaust but that they
hated all Jews -- only"these troublemakers who cause the unhappiness in the
world" -- like Freud,Einstein, and the sinister Jewish bankers.

Most
astonishing of all was their tone of high, patronising, moral snobbery.The
English, one said, had "lost" 300 years of civilisation during the DarkAges,
and never caught up with the rest of Europe.

They were trapped in
delusions of grandeur and persecution, like Mugabe's.

The cold facts are
that 350000 Zimbabwean farmworkers and over a million oftheir dependents
face being made not only jobless but homeless in the nextfew months as a
result of Mugabe's "fast track land reform".

In the Wedza area alone,
100km south east of Harare, 5060 have already beendisplaced and are being
hounded round its highways and byways.

Politically cowed policemen
refused to curb the "war veterans" who chasedthem from farm villages saying
the land and buildings were now theirs, buthave been only too ready to warn
the families they will be arrested for theenormity of sleeping on the
pavements of Marondera.

"If this is reform, the maths doesn't add up,"
said local CommercialFarmers' Union official Steve Pratt.

More
workers are being driven off the farms than "land-hungry peasants" arebeing
settled. The situation is the classic formula for starting endemic
andunstoppable rural unrest, running into civil war.

"Phase Two" of
Mugabe's plan, due to start shortly, will see farms parcelledup into lots
and individual (leasehold) title sold at cut rates to the Zanu(PF) party
faithful.

If this does not remind the world of the German National
Socialists' forcingJewish families to sell their assets to approved "Aryans"
at discounts of upto 90 percent, it ought.

Mugabe's land seizures have left the people of Zimbabwe
facing economic catastrophe

A LITTLE more than two decades since fearful whites mocked
the glossy brochures urging tourists to “Come to Rhodesia and see the Zimbabwe
Ruins’’ with their own adage, “Come to Zimbabwe and see Rhodesia in ruins”, the
country once regarded as the jewel of Africa is a mess.

President Mugabe’s seizure of two thirds of the 30 million acres of prime
agricultural land owned by white farmers has ripped the heart out of Zimbabwe’s
once vibrant agricultural sector, provoked a wholesale de-industrialisation of
the economy, and left government finances in a state of penury.

While the plight of the 70,000 or so white farmers and their families
continues to dominate the international media, the bulk of the country’s 12
million black people is worse off now than it was when Zimbabwe won its
independence from Britain in 1980.

Unemployment lies somewhere between 50 and 70 per cent. Food shortages and
hyper-inflation are looming. The economy contracted by nearly 5 per cent last
year, and is expected to shrink even more this year. Some two thirds of the
population are living below the poverty line, and with seven months to go before
the next presidential election, due by April, the worst may still be to come.

When Robert Mugabe launched his ill-fated seizure of white-owned farms in
February 2000, the cost of putting right Zimbabwe’s economy, which had already
been on the skids for some years, was estimated at around US$1 billion (£690
million). That figure is now US$3 billion and rising, and there isn’t an
investor or aid donor in sight.

Wheat and maize cultivation is now at its lowest level since Zimbabwe’s
disastrous drought in 1992. The Government’s Grain Marketing Board holds 291,000
tonnes of maize in its strategic grain reserve, around half of what is needed to
meet demand in the run-up to next year’s harvest.

It gets worse. Harare claims to have settled 650,000 “landless peasants” on
white-owned farms since the “fast track” land reform programme began. White
farmers insist, however, that they can count only around 30,000. While
production on thousands of white commercial farms is being sabotaged by bands of
roaming war veterans, the hundreds of thousands of small-scale black farmers
needed to make up the food deficit are nowhere to be seen. Even if they were
working the land, they would produce no more than they need. The Government has
promised the black settlers US$270 million for seeds, pesticides, fertiliser and
farm equipment. But it doesn’t have the cash. Little wonder that the war
veterans have begun plundering white farms for the agricultural inputs they need
to feed themselves.

The rains are due in November. If planting is not completed by October, there
will be little or no harvest in the new year. Zimbabwe, once a net food
exporter, is now staring at the spectre of widespread famine.

The prospects for the tobacco sector, traditionally one of the largest
earners of foreign exchange, are equally bleak. In a good year, Zimbabwe could
expect to produce 230 million kilograms of high-grade tobacco. Last year, it
barely managed 190 million kilograms. This year, it could be as little as 100
million kilograms. Philip Morris and British American Tobacco, the big buyers of
the local leaf, are already preparing for a total collapse of Zimbabwe’s tobacco
sector, and are looking for alternative sources of supply.

The impact of Mugabe’s arbitrary land seizures on the agricultural sector has
tended to receive most attention. But the effect on the country’s industrial
sector is equally devastating. More than 600 companies have gone to the wall
since the war veterans unleashed their campaign of violence. That has resulted
in the loss of some 150,000 jobs. As a rule of thumb, there are ten mouths
dependent on every income in Zimbabwe. In the space of 18 months, 1.5 million
people who had a safety net because one family member was in work have lost it.

Nothing mirrors the decline of Zimbabwe’s economy more dramatically than the
collapse of the Zimbabwean dollar. At independence, the currency enjoyed parity
with sterling (Z$1 = US$1.40). Before the land invasions, it had fallen to 44 to
the US dollar. While the currency officially remains pegged at 55 to the US
dollar, it nosedived to 310 on the parallel black market by the end of last
week, and observers predict that it will hit 500 by the end of the year.

In desperation to muster the hard currency it needs to pay for imports of
fuel and power, Harare had required exporters to put 25 per cent of their forex
earnings at the disposal of the Government at the official exchange rate. That
figure was recently increased to 40 per cent.

Two weeks ago Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank declared all unofficial exchange rates
illegal, prompting panic among industrialists, exporters, bankers and hoteliers
alike. Unable to exchange hard currency on the parallel market, every single
business in the country now faces bankruptcy.

The economic situation is so dire that the Government is rumoured to be
contemplating bringing the election forward to January, before the combined
impact of chronic food shortages and further job losses hits the electorate,
thereby eliminating what little prospect Mugabe has of defeating Morgan
Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
in the forthcoming presidential poll.

Burdened with a foreign debt of some US$7 billion, and struggling to keep the
lid on a mushrooming budget deficit which has already hit 10 per cent of gross
domestic product, the Government is printing money as if there were no tomorrow.
In one sense, there isn’t.

Having staked everything on winning the election by any means necessary,
Mugabe appears not to have thought through what happens next. On two occasions,
Joseph Msika, the Vice-President, has publicly warned that the ruling party
would resume the liberation war if it lost the election. The message is clear:
re-elect Mugabe or face a firestorm. In fact, it has already started. With the
Government unable to pay the salaries of its armed forces and security services,
soldiers, police officers and war veterans are already seizing land, goods and
equipment in lieu of wages.

Broken and demoralised, Zimbabwe’s long-suffering electorate is unlikely to
take to the streets unless provoked by widespread hunger, the cancellation of
the election or an attempt to overturn the result. If they are provoked,
Mugabe’s epitaph, in the words of Tony Hawkins, professor of economics at
Zimbabwe University, will read: “Après moi, le
déluge.”

Abuja - Zimbabwe hopes to ease the tension
between it and Britain over President Robert Mugabe's controversial land reforms
at talks in Nigeria this week, but analysts and western diplomats are not
optimistic. They say Mugabe's hard line on the seizure of white-owned farms for
landless blacks, and his determination to blame almost all his problems on
Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler, have left little room for compromise.
The meeting - an effort by Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo to end the London/Harare political stand-off over land reform
and Mugabe's incremental authoritarianism - kicks off in Abuja tomorrow. A
battle over the meeting's agenda which Harare wants focused on land while London
and others want to emphasise political violence and the rule of law started
yesterday. Zimbabwean officials said the two-day meeting in the Nigerian capital
of Abuja should "make Britain realise" the political, moral and economic
justification of Mugabe's reforms. "We believe that once Britain realises the
justification of our programme, we should be able to patch our differences
because our land policy is the source of our problems," Foreign Affairs Minister
Stan Mudenge said.

The Abuja conference will be chaired by
Nigeria and is expected to include ministers from Kenya, Jamaica and Australia.
Mudenge and Agriculture Minister Joseph Made are expected to lead the Zimbabwean
delegation, while the British group will be led by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
The Commonwealth team will be led by secretary-general Don McKinnon. SA had
expected to be at the talks, the first since the group was set up in June. But
Pretoria's involvement was still uncertain yesterday because of its hosting of
the ongoing United Nations conference on racism in Durban, diplomats said. The
Zimbabwe crisis was under discussion on the sidelines of a Commonwealth
ministerial group in London yesterday, Nigerian officials said, and will be
raised at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Australia later in the
year.

"I don't see how the (Abuja) meeting can
bridge the gap because what we have here is a problem of a government pursuing a
programme of land reforms accompanied by violence and which almost the whole
world has condemned," said Zimbabwean analyst Masipula Sithole. "The whole
concept of seeing this as a problem between Zimbabwe and Britain is problematic
because it is an internal problem with international ramifications," Sithole
said. A Harare-based European Union diplomat said he expected "modest results"
from the talks. "We get the impression that the Zimbabwean government is adamant
that there is nothing wrong in the manner in which it is carrying out its
programme and I am sure they will make that point very strongly," he
said.

Although some African countries including
Nigeria have largely displayed solidarity with Zimbabwe in the face of western
criticism, they question Mugabe's strategy and plan. Zimbabwe has been shaken in
recent months by the seizures of white-owned farms by landless blacks and by
violence by pro-government militants. Political opponents of Mugabe have,
meanwhile, been attacked, killed and beaten by his supporters with the apparent
backing of the police. Britain, the former colonial power, has spearheaded
international criticism of Mugabe. Mugabe has, in turn, accused Britain of
trying to continue running the country and failing to pay compensation for land
reforms he says were agreed in 1980 independence negotiations. Pessimists point
to the failure of past attempts to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the issue,
notably in 1998 when a deal was struck but not implemented.

From BBC NEWS, 5
September

Commonwealth urges Zimbabwe
progress

Commonwealth foreign ministers have expressed renewed concern
about events in Zimbabwe. The worsening political and economic situation there
threatens to overshadow the Commonwealth summit in Brisbane in October.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the problems could not be
ignored: the harassment and acts of violence were a matter of enormous concern.
A meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) in London
expressed the hope that talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Thursday, would
make some progress towards a solution.

No-one has high hopes of this week's talks in Nigeria, but
Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon told the BBC it would be the first
significant dialogue between Commonwealth ministers and the Zimbabwe Government.
"Everyone is going with the hope that we can see a turn-around of some of the
activities in Zimbabwe, that we can see progress towards a recognition of issues
that could probably be dealt with in another way," he said. "But until we get to
Abuja, until we see what's on the table, one wouldn't wish to make an early
judgement." Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe wants the Abuja meeting to deal
only with his quarrel with Britain over the financing of land redistribution.
But Mr McKinnon said all the ministers had stressed there should be a wide
agenda. That means it will cover not only the seizure of white-owned farmland in
Zimbabwe, but also cases of the intimidation of the opposition, the judiciary
and media.

From The Star (SA), 5
September

SADC leaders to put heads together
in Zim

President Thabo Mbeki and five other regional heads of state
will attend a two-day summit in Harare next week aimed at resolving the crisis
in that country, said the presidency on Tuesday. Presidential spokesperson Bheki
Khumalo said Mbeki would be joined in the Zimbabwean capital by the presidents
of Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi Angola and Namibia. He described this as a part
of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiative "to try and
(sic) deal with some issues emerging from Zimbabwe". The meeting, scheduled for
Monday and Tuesday with President Robert Mugabe and his cabinet ministers, will
also involve such interest groups as commercial farmers and war veterans. "This
indicates the commitment of the South African government to do whatever it can
to deal with some of the challenges facing Zimbabwe," said Khumalo. "This is in
the interests of not only Zimbabwe but the whole SADC region."

The Rand hit its lowest level ever on Tuesday when it dropped
to R8,48 to the US dollar before recovering slightly after concerns over the
continuing crisis in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean government on Monday launched a
blistering attack on Britain and urged the international World Conference
Against Racism to support African demands for reparations from former colonial
powers. Defending his country's controversial land policy, Zimbabwe's Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the issue of compensation and reparations from
its former colonial ruler Britain was critical for the peaceful resolution of
his country's land question.

From ZWNEWS, 5
September

Shifting
perceptions

The last few weeks have been nothing short of revelatory. For
the first time since the referendum in February past year, the press –
particularly the foreign press – have begun to report what is actually going on
in Zimbabwe.

It started first with an article in the UK Independent.
Counting back over the months, they came up with the figure of 110 deaths from
political violence – overwhelmingly opposition supporters. This after months in
which almost every Zimbabwean and foreign newspaper had been repeating the
figure of 30 – time and time again. This after months in which the Amani Trust
had been reporting figures far, far bigger. Even one death is one too many, but
shifting the figure up by a multiple of almost 4 does at least go some way
towards illustrating what is actually happening. In July 2001 alone that figure
of 110 rose by 10%. Those are just the reported deaths – who knows how many
others remain the sorry, secret knowledge of the victims’ families, and the
murderers?

Then came the associated discovery – for large sections of the
foreign press – that it is black Zimbabweans, not white farmers – who are the
real targets of the orchestrated violence. This revelation began after the
arrest of the 21 Chinhoyi farmers (now 22, and all white). Until then, despite
overwhelming evidence to the contrary over the preceding 18 months, the plight
of hundreds of thousands of black farmworkers, villagers in the communal lands,
and urban dwellers remained all but invisible.

This shift in perception by the media reporting on Zimbabwe has
been welcome. However, there is still one ‘fact’ found in nearly all reports on
the land invasions: that 4,500 white commercial farmers live on 70% of the land,
while eight million black villagers are crammed on to the remainder. Every
Zimbabwean knows that land distribution has been disproportionate and the issue
must be addressed. But the quoted facts used by nearly all foreign media
referring to the inequality are completely inaccurate, and play firmly into the
hands of the state propaganda machine. To use a different illustration, these
oft-quoted figures imply that the population density is 4,100 times greater in
the communal areas than on the commercial farms, which is patently absurd for
anyone who has visited either.

The total population of Zimbabwe is 13 million. At least four
million live in the towns and cities. That leaves nine million, two million of
whom – before February 2000, and the start of the land invasions – lived and
worked on the commercial farms. The total land area of Zimbabwe is almost
exactly 39 million hectares. At Independence in 1980, commercial farmers owned
11.6 million hectares, or just short of 30% of the country’s total land area.
Over the following 20 years, 3.5 million hectares were legally acquired by the
government for resettlement, leaving white Zimbabwean farmers owning a shade
over 8 million hectares by last year. This where the 70% figure comes
from – the 4500 farmers now own 70% of what they owned 21 years ago. This
amounts to just under 21 % of the total land area of the country.

Two million farmworkers, and 4500 white farmers – 15.5 % of the
population - therefore lived and derived their livelihoods on 21% of the land,
before the large scale evictions of farmers and farmworkers of recent weeks
began. This ratio takes little account of varying land quality – on both
commercial farms and communal lands – or the valid concerns about export
earnings and food security. The population density is unequal, but nothing like
as unequal as the factor of 4100, implied by the usually quoted figures,
suggests.

The standard retort would be that the farmworkers don’t own any
part of that 8 million hectares. That is true. But how many of the resettled
farmers currently pegging their plots on the commercial farms will actually own
their smallholdings. For the landless poor on both the communal lands and the
recently invaded farms, there are no title deeds. They cannot use the land as
collateral for capital improvement, they cannot sell it, and they hold tenure on
that land at the whim of the local strongman. Ask any of the few thousand
villagers who were resettled on some of the legally-acquired commercial farms up
to 1999, or those who have recently been allocated plots - four hectares on
average - on commercial farmland.

In some areas, or course, legal title has been granted. Ask
what has happened to the vast bulk of the 3.5 million hectares bought by the
state. Ask George Charamba – the ubiquitous Presidential spokesman. He has a 100
year lease over 1500 hectares on the Battlefields Estate near Kadoma – bought by
the government for the resettlement of landless peasants.

From Australian Broadcasting
Corporation, 4 September

Mugabe denied permission to bring
armed security guards to Australia

Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, says
discussions about Zimbabwe's President Mugabe's controversial regime have been
deferred at a Commonwealth Ministers' meeting in London. More talks are
scheduled for later this week in Nigeria. But Mr Downer has confirmed that a
request by Zimbabwe to provide its own armed security for the President has been
declined. "His officials have raised with us whether it would be possible for
armed security guards to come with him and we said no it wouldn't be possible
for armed security guards to come with him."

From The Daily News, 4
September

New wave of violence
reported

A new wave of political violence is sweeping across the country
and property worth more than $40 million has been destroyed in five provinces by
people masquerading as war veterans or Zanu PF supporters. The affected areas
are Makoni West, where a by-election is to due this weekend, Masvingo, Bulawayo,
where mayoral elections are scheduled for this weekend, Mashonaland Central and
Marondera in Mashonaland East.

In the Marondera commercial farming area farm workers are being
forced to attend pungwes (all-night rallies). Many farmers in these areas have
stopped preparing for the tobacco planting season. Yesterday, workers at
Carolina, Tranquillity, Balihai, Silver Queen, Spesbona, Monora, Alexandra and
Brandesbury farms said they were beaten up by Zanu PF youths led by three people
claiming to be war veterans, identified as Shasha, Zenenga and Marimo, for
refusing to attend a rally at Arcadia Farm. One worker said: "Shasha and his
team came here to beat up people. They said we were supposed to attend a rally
to be addressed by David Karimanzira, the Mashonaland East provincial governor."
Steve Pratt, the Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) spokesman for Mashonaland East,
said since last week there had been work stoppages on at least six farms in
Wenimbe Valley as the war veterans commandeered farmers' tractors to ferry
workers to pungwes.

In Makoni West, invaders suspected to be Zanu PF supporters
have turned the rural constituency into a war zone as they conduct violent
purges against suspected MDC supporters. Remus Makuwaza, of the MDC, and Gibson
Munyoro, of Zanu PF, will contest the seat left vacant after the death in a car
accident in May of Moven Mahachi, of Zanu PF. Although the campaigning started
peacefully, it has now turned violent with three MDC supporters’ homes burnt
down by suspected Zanu PF activists. Three MDC members, Gibson Ratimba, Revai
Magondo and Richard Mutemi, were assaulted after being accused of campaigning
for their party.

In Nyamandlovu, 58 ostriches worth more than $2 million were
burnt to death yesterday by farm invaders at Redwood Park Farm who evicted the
farm owner, Peter Goosen, last week. There are about 2 500 ostriches on the farm
where wheat is also grown. A militant group of about 100 that has been camped on
the farm has threatened to kill Goosen, forcing him to leave his property. He is
now living in Bulawayo after an abortive meeting with the police, the CFU and
the invaders. Xavier Pfende, 64, an MDC activist from Chiveso village in Musana
communal lands in Mashonaland Central, is recovering at the Avenues Clinic in
Harare after being beaten up and left for dead by suspected Zanu PF supporters
on Wednesday. Pfende lost two teeth and sustained a broken jaw and severe head
injuries after he was attacked with iron rods. Another MDC member from the same
area, Alexio Jojo, sustained serious head injuries when the same group attacked
him with a hoe.

In Masvingo, violence has swept across the province as
suspected Zanu PF supporters have been invading commercial farms and beating up
farm workers and MDC supporters. Mike Clarke, the CFU regional chairman, said
the situation on farms remained tense and farmers were losing property worth
millions of dollars as the invaders have turned to looting at will. "Commercial
farming operations have ground to a halt in the province. The lives of
commercial farmers are in danger. The new acts of violence are sending the wrong
signals as some of the affected people have fully supported the land reform
programme," said Clarke. He said the worst affected areas were Masvingo East and
Mwenezi commercial farming areas. In Masvingo East, veld fires started by the
invaders have continued to destroy pasture and there are fears that cattle might
die because of pasture shortage, according to Clarke.

From BBC News, 5
September

Bankers slam Zimbabwe's economic
policies

The head of Zimbabwe's second biggest private bank has
criticised the economic policies of President Robert Mugabe. Paddy Zhanda,
chairman of National Merchant (NMB), told shareholders that hyperinflation, a
lack of foreign currency, and a thriving black market are causing acute
problems. Julius Markoni, NMB managing director, told the BBC's World Business
Report that Zimbabwe needs a better co-ordinated land reform programme and
incentives for foreign investment and exporters. "In order to reverse this trend
there must be changes in the political field and economic measures", he
said.

Asked if he was worried about speaking out so openly against
President Mugabe's financial policies, Mr Markoni said: "We're not having a go
at the government as such. We're just stating day-to-day facts which affect how
people can afford to live, or not to live, in Zimbabwe. Nearly 700 companies are
reported to have closed down in Zimbabwe in the last 18 months due in part to
chronic shortages of fuel and foreign exchange. President Mugabe has said he
will scrutinise the reasons behind the closures to determine if they were
prompted by a desire to destroy the economy.

Critics of the regime have blamed the crisis on government
mismanagement. The president, however, has accused local whites and Western
governments opposed to his land reform programme of sabotaging the country's
financial well-being. The president has faced widespread international criticism
for his government's plans to seize white-owned land for resettlement by black
farmers. Western donor countries and lending agencies critical of land seizures
have suspended foreign aid.

Zimbabwe's vital export sectors have also suffered heavily
since the local dollar devalued by almost a third and officially pegged at 55 to
the US dollar. On the black market, however, the local dollar trades at around
350 to the US dollar. The prices of many key products have also been fixed,
creating an illusion of success. However, NMB's Julius Markoni said inflation is
hurting the poor more than the middle classes. With little else on which to
spend their money, wealthy Zimbabwean have been buying shares, resulting in a
surge in the stock market of some 120% this year. Profits for NMB rose by 102%
to nearly one billion Zimbabwe dollars in the last year. Zimbabwe's neighbours
are keeping a wary eye on events, fearing that the crisis could undermine
economic growth across the whole region.